| Who |
Personal Favorites
|
Comments |
| Bob
Wills and His Texas Playboys
Asleep
at the Wheel (keeping Bob's
spirit alive) |
"New San Antonio Rose"
"Faded Love"
"Eight'r from Decatur"
"Take Me Back to Tulsa"
Ride With Bob (Asleep at
the Wheel album)
|
Well the honky-tonks in Texas were
my natural second home
Where you tip your hat to the ladies and the Rose of San Anton'
I grew up on music that we call western swing
It don't matter who's in Austin, Bob Wills is still the king.
-- Waylon Jennings
The King of Western Swing -- he may not have invented
the genre but he guided its direction and brought it to national
attention, with the help of one of the greatest bands that ever
was. |
| Brian
Burns |
"Angels & Outlaws"
The Eagle & the Snake: Songs of the Texians (album)
"Don't Tell Mama"
|
A
truly great singer/songwriter!
Brian's official site
Lone
Star History (Brian's site dedicated to use of music in
schools to promote interest in history) |
|
Chris LeDoux
|
"8 Second Ride"
"Bareback Jack"
"One Ride in Vegas"
"Silence on the Line"
"Sometimes You've Just Gotta Ride"
"Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy" (duet with Garth Brooks)
"Ten Seconds in the Saddle"
|
Chris
was the 1976 PRCA World Bareback Champion, so when he sings about
rodeo, it's from the heart. Chris described his music: "a combination of western soul, sagebrush
blues, cowboy folk and rodeo rock 'n' roll." He died in
2003 at the age of 56.
The
official Chris LeDoux website
Chris
LeDoux Country
|
| Chris Wall |
"I Feel Like Hank Williams
Tonight"
"Rodeo Cowboy"
"Something to Shoot"
"The Bouncer at the Cowboy Bar"
|
I
can't say it better than Ray Wylie Hubbard did -- "Chris Wall
is a cowboy savior/hero/poet who with his words and music gives us
redemption from the atrocities of this illusion that is presently
known as country music." Amen. |
| Dale Watson |
"A Real Country Song"
"Country My Ass"
"It's a Cheatin' Situation" (duet with Kelly Willis)
"Nashville Rash"
|
Dale
is the Real Deal. There's not a phony note to be found in his
work. He's not retro- or neo-, he's a real country honky-tonker in
the tradition of Willie & Waylon & Merle. And way too
country for most country radio stations..
Official site of Dale Watson
and His Lone Stars
Watch
video |
| Dub Miller |
"21st Century Cowboy"
"Cowboys and Sailors"
"Insanity and Texas"
"Nine Miles North of Mason"
|
He
called an album American Troubador, a title which he's
earned. He writes and sings from the soul.
Dub's official website
Dub's
blog |
| Ed Burleson |
"Honky-Tony Heart"
"Honky-Tonk Downstairs"
"Rodeo Song"
|
"Honky-tonk
heart and a hillbilly soul ..." That's Ed Burleson alright.
You gotta like a guy whose drummer is his dad.
Ed's Official
Site
Ed's blog |
| Guy Clark |
"A Nickel for the
Fiddler"
"Desperados Waiting for a Train"
"Soldier's Joy, 1864"
"The Last Gunfighter Ballad"
"Hank Williams Said It Best"
|
Guy
can write a song like no other, and although everybody sings his
songs, nobody sings 'em like the man himself.
Guy's official website
Watch
Video |
| Gram Parsons |
"Wild
Horses"
"She"
"Streets of Baltimore", "Return of the Grievous
Angel", and "We'll Sweep Out the Ashes" (duets with
Emmylou Harris)
|
In his short life of 26
years, Gram fathered country-rock (he preferred to call it
"Cosmic American Music"). His influence extended far
beyond his lifetime.
Gram
Parsons Homepage |
| Hank
Williams III |
"Whiskey, Weed and
Women"
"Honky-Tonk Girls"
Men With Broken Hearts (3 Hanks) (album featuring electronically
created tracks of Jr. and III singing with Sr.)
|
"100%
Pure Hellbilly". Yeah, he is. Out-outlawing his daddy and his
granddaddy, III and the Damn Band do country right. His Straight
to Hell Album was the first major-label country album to sport
a Parental Advisory sticker on the cover. |
| Houston Marchman & the
contraband |
"Too Much Whiskey"
"Viet Nashville"
"Wichita Falls"
|
Just
good, honest music. Every track on every album is a keeper. And
there aren't many albums you can say that about.
Houston Marchman website |
| James
McMurtry |
"Where'd You Hide the
Body"
"We Can't Make It Here"
"Lights of Cheyenne"
"Valley Road"
"No More Buffalo"
|
I admit I gave James a
chance just 'cause he's Larry's son, and I'm not sorry. Said
James: “Larry’s a myth-breaker. I try to be, too. That’s why
I could’ve never started my career in Nashville. They cherish
their myths too much. I could never sing ‘So Long To My Ole
Homestead’ because I know what happened to the ol’ homestead
-- grandpa nearly killed himself with alcohol, and granddaughter
used her power of attorney to pull it out from underneath him and
sell it.”
Official
website of James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards |
| Jerry Jeff Walker |
"Mr. Bonjangles"
(written by JJW)
"Rodeo Wind"
"What I Like About Texas"
"Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother"
|
The
"Gypsy Songman" ... a New Yorker by birth who reinvented
himself as part of the Texas outlaw country scene.
JJW's official website |
| Ray Wylie Hubbard |
"Ballad of the Crimson
Kings"
"Conversation with the Devil"
"Screw You, We're From Texas"
"Sleep of the Just"
|
Best known for writing "Up Against the Wall
Redneck Mother", a song he now says he hates -- except when the royalty
checks come in ... "Wanna hear it
again?" <g>
RWH's
official website |
| Robert Earl
Keen |
"The Road Goes On Forever"
"Merry Christmas from the
Family"
"The Great Hank"
"Sonora's Death Row"
"The Front Porch Song"
|
Yeah,
it's true that he has a vocal range of about five notes, but he
does more with five than most singers do with two dozen. The road
goes on forever and the party never ends!
REK's
official website
|
| Shooter Jennings |
"Manifesto No. 1"
"Ain't No Good Chain Gang"
"I'm a Long Way from Home"
"Fourth of July"
"Put the 'O' Back in Country"
"Busted in Baylor County"
"The Letter"
|
He's the spittin' image of
his daddy. His music is different, but it comes from the same
place. "You take a little country and a little rock and
roll/A little Neil Young and a little George Jones/a little Merle
Haggard and a little of the Stones/add a little Cash and a whole
lotta Waylon." That's the formula, hoss.
Shooter's
official website
|
| Tanya Tucker |
"Delta Dawn"
"What's Your Mama's Name"
"Jamestown Ferry"
"San Antonio Stroll"
"Lizzie and the Rainman"
|
It's not the fact that
Tanya had several hits before she was 15 years old. Or the fact
that she's continued to produce great music ever since. It's the voice.
Tanya's official website
|
| Tom
Russell |
"All This Way for the Short Ride"
"Bucking Horse Moon"
"Gallo del Cielo"
"Hills of Old Juarez"
"Lord of the Trains"
"Navaho Rug"
"The Outcast" & "The Outcast Revisited"
"Tonight We Ride"
"Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts"
Oh heck, all of 'em ....
|
This is the man who
practically invented the Americana radio format. He sings
about cowboys, Indians, horses and dogs. And every song he sings
is a rough-cut gem. "America's greatest living
singer/songwriter"? Yeah. As a "mythographer-folklorist-balladeer"
he's been called an heir to Steinbeck. I'd say he's an heir to
Homer. Gather round, chillun, and listen to his stories.
Tom's
official website
|
| Travis Tritt |
"Anymore"
"Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)"
"Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof"
|
Although his career
started in the 90s, he's way more Outlaw than Hat Act. Travis can
honky-tonk with the best of 'em.
Watch
the video trilogy |
| Waylon Jennings |
"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"
"Bob Wills Is Still the King"
"I've Always Been Crazy"
"The Yellow Rose of Texas" (with Jessi Colter)
|
Waylon &
Willie
Their '76 release Wanted:
The Outlaws (with Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser) was the
first country album to go platinum. What's country music? Waylon
& Willie.
The official Waylon Jennings
Site
Willie's official website
Watch
videos |
| Willie Nelson |
"Bear for my Horses" (duet with Toby Keith)
"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"
"Red Headed Stranger"
"Time of the Preacher"
|
Multi-Artist/Concept
Albums
White
Mansions and The Legend of Jesse James
These two albums, both conceived and written by British songwriter
Paul Kennerley, are now sold as a set. White Mansions features
Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Bernie Leadon of the Eagles, and
Eric Clapton. Jesse James stars, among others, Levon
Helm of The Band as Jesse, Johnny Cash as Frank, Emmylou Harris as
Zee, and Charlie Daniels as Cole Younger.
Return
of the Grievous Angel: Tribute to Gram Parsons
A stellar collection of musicians (Emmylou, of course ... with ex-Byrds
Chris Hillman and David Crosby, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams,
Elvis Costello, The Cowboy Junkies, Sheryl Crow, and more!) Not
just cover versions, each artist brings a fresh new interpretation
to Gram's timeless songs. My highlight - Lucinda and David's duet
of the title track. |
|
NOT COUNTRY, but GOOD
I also likes these folks ....
Cathy Barton & Dave
Para - Folk Singers from Missouri
The McKameys - Southern Gospel
Tony Gore - more Southern Gospel
Rollin' in the Hay -
renegade Bluegrass
Loreena McKennitt - Is there a
more hauntingly beautiful voice?
more to come ...
|
